Internal-combustion engine.



N. R. POTTER.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED MAR.25, Isls.

l 161 ,335. Patentea Nov. 23, 1915.

Fgen.

ATM MI INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 23,1915.

application aied Marcil a5, i915. serial no. 17,023.

Y .To all whom vit-may concern y Be it known that l, NATHANIEL R. POT- TER, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented cer- `tain new and useful lmprovenientsiin lnternal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates particularly to the valve-mechanism of an internal-combustion engine, and the object of the inventiony is to provide valve-mechanism capable of operation at high speed andadapted to provide the minimum impediment to the inflow of combustible mixture and the escape of the p exhaust gases from the engine-cylinder.

To the foregoing end 1 employ a valve so formed as to provide an intake or exhaust opening which may be completely-annular in form, and which preferably extends entirely around the cylinder. y

The invention also comprises obturating devices particularly adapted for coperation with a valve of the V*type in question, and operating automatically to seal the cylinder-port during the occurrence of high pressure in the cylinder, while not interfering with the movement of the Vvalve in opening and closing the port.

Other objects, and the features of construction by which the several objects of the invention are attained, will be set forth. in connection with the following description of the illustrated embodiment of the invention.

In the vaccompanying drawings r--Figure 1 is a vertical, median, sectional view of an internal-combustion engine embodying the present invention; Fig.` 2 is a horizontal section on the line 2-2, excluding the cylinderhead, in Fig. 1, lookingdownwardly; and

'Fig'. 3 is a detail sectional view on the line 3 3 in Fig. 2, buton a larger scale.

The invention is illustrated as embodied in a single-cylinder engine, but it is equally applicable .to multi-cylinder engines, with slight modifications in construction which will. readilyV suggest themselves.; to those skilled in,A the art. The illustrated engine has the usual cylinder 5, piston 6, connecting-rod 7, and crank-shaft 8,. and the cylinder is inclosed inV the usual water-jacket 9 and is provided with a removable head 10.

.. The cylinder-head is spaced a shortdis-V tance above the upper endof the` cylinder,

tuting a passage or port through which by a casinof 13 surrounding Vthe top of the cylinder and partly closed by the cylinderhead 10, as shown in Fig. 8. The chamber 12 has cylindrical inner and outer surfaces, and it constitutes a guide-way for an annularyalve 16 having inner and outer surfaces fitting closely against the cylindrical surfaces of the valve-chamber. `The'valve 16 is xed to the upper ends of slide-rods 17, and each rod is flxed,at its loweruend, .to a slide 1 8 which moves in a slide-guide 19 on the frame of the engine. Each slide 18 is provided with a cam-roller 20, engaging a campath 21k formed in the side of a gear 27 which meshes with a pinion 22 fixed on the crank-shaft. This arrangement is such that the valve 16-may be moved vertically in the valve-chamber 12 at suitable times in the operation of the engine. y

At the side of the cylinder inletand outlet-passages 14 and 15, respectively, are formed, these passages communicating, respectively, with the upper and lower parts of the valve-chamber 12, as shown in Figs, land 2. When the valve is in its intermediate position, as shown in Fig. 1, communication between the valve-chamber andthe cylinder is entirely closed, but when the valve is in its lowermost position, as shown in Fig. 3, the upper part of the valve-chainber forms an annular passage around the cylinder which communicates with the inletpassage 14C; while, on the other hand, when the .valve is in' the upper part of the valvechamber the lower part of the valve-chamber forms an annular passage cominunicating with the exhaust-passage 15. v

An important feature of the arrangenien above described resides in the fact that the valve, when in either its uppermost or lowermost position, is moved entirely clear of one ofthe margins of the cylinder-port, so as to afford an annular opening extending entirely around the cylinder, through which gasesmay be introduced or discharged, and thus the engine is adapted vfor operation at very high speed with a minimum amount of wire-drawing or of back-pressure due to the flow of the gases'through the port. In

order, however, that the valve may be drawnA entirely clear of the margins of the cylinder- Y the valve shall be efectually prevented When because they the valve is in closed position, special packing or obtrating means are necessary.'

Since the tendency in an internal-combustion engine is for leakage to occur outwardly, owing to the fact that the pressure Within' the cylinder, at least during the compression and Working strokes, is greater than the external pressure, it is necessary in the present case that the packing-means, in order to besubjected to and held in operative position by theY pressure, be mounted not in the valve-ring but in the stationary parts with which it coperates, so that a packing must be located at each margin ot' the lcylinder-port. This introduces, hoW- ever, the difficulty-that the valve-member is moved entirely out of engagement with the packing-devices alternately, and consequently these packing-devices must be of such a character as to permit the valve to be disengaged from them, and then rengaged, Without injury to the packing-means or obstruction to the movements of the valvemember. The resilient packing-rings commonly used inV internal-combustion engines cannot be used in the present construction,

spring outwardly When released to a diameter substantially greater than that of the surface With Which they cooperate. Accordingly, I employ obturating devices Which have a diameter, When disengaged by the valve, vvhich is not substantially greater than the internal diameter of the valve, so that the valve may be moved readily into and out of engagement With them, but which respond automatically to pressure in the engine-cylinder so as to expand and press tightly against the surface of the valve. As a preferred, though not essential, construction for this purpose I emj ploy tWo continuous packing-rings 24, Which may be made of cast-iron or any other metal having suiiicient elasticity. These rings have beveled inner surfaces, as shoWn in Fig. 3, Which are engaged by the beveled peripheries of annular pressure-members or diaphragms 25. These pressure-members are located in recesses in the cylinder-Wall and the cylinder-head, and are ixed to these parts at their inner margins, by screwthreads or otherwise. The pressure-members have enough elasticity so that When subjected to a substantial pressure against their exposed surfaces they spring outwardly, and thus have a Wedging action on the'packing-rings 24 bywhich these rings are slightly expanded. This action occurs When the valve 16 is stationary, and therefore, although the expanding action may cause the packing-rings to press very firmly at this time'against the valve,`no Wear on the parts is so produced.-

Although the expansion of the .packingrings under the influence of pressure is very slight, it is sufficient for the purpose, owing to the fact that it is practicable to fit these rings very closely to the valve-member, and to maintain the close iit for a long period of operation. Since the valve-member is subject to no lunbalanced lateral force, the wear due to the pressure of gas against it is negligible, and accordingly it is not necessary to provide for any considerable range ol movement in the expanding packing.

At all times when the valve is in movement to open or to close the cylinder-port the pressure in the cylinder is comparatively small, so that at such times the packing-rings are not forced into engagement With the valve, and the parts have merely a free running t. This is sufficiently close, however, to prevent any substantial leakage during the portions of the cycle of the enf1gine when the pressure in the cylinder is ovv.

In Figs. l and 2 the inletand exhaustpassages are shown in duplicate, in order to avoid the necessity of the gases iowing for any considerable distance through the valve-chamber l2, but this duplication of passages is not essential to the invention.

A useful characteristic of the valve-mechanism resides in the fact that the valvemember 16, in descending for the purpose of opening the cylinder to the inlet-passage, acts as a piston by which combustible mixture is drawn into the valve-chamber, so that at the instant of opening the cylinderport the gases are already in motion in the proper direction, and thus the influx of the combustible mixture is accelerated.

I claim l. In an internal-combustion engine, the combination, With a cylinder provided, adjacent its inner end, with an annular chamber; of an annular valve-member movable, in said chamber, longitudinally of the cylinder and closing said chamber against conimunication with the combustion-space of the 'cylinder when the valve-member is in one position; means for moving the valve-member entirely out of engagement With one portion of said chamber, whereby a continuous annular opening is provided for communication between the combustion-space and said annular-chamber, and expansible packing-means mountedin the cylinder at the margin of said chamber and engageable With the valve-member, the diameter of said packing-means When not under pressure, being substantially the same as the inner diameter of the valve-member, but said means being expansible under the influence of pressure in the cylinder.

2. In an internal-combustion engine, the combination, With an annular sliding valvemember, of. a continuous elastic packingring having a normal diameter no greater than the inner diameter of the valve-member, and a resilient diaphragm subjected to freely engaging the valve-member; and the cylinder-pressure and having a beveled means coperating mechanically with said surface engaging an inner surface of the ring and adapted, when subjected to cylinring, whereby the ring may be expanded der-pressure, to expand the ring. 15 5 into close engagement with the valve-mem- In testimony whereof, I aiiix my signature ber when the diaphragm is subjected to presin presence of two Witnesses.

sure.

3. In an internal-combustion engine, the NATHANIEL R' POTTER' combination, with an annular sliding valve- W'itnesses: 10 member, of a stationary packing in the form L. THON,

of a continuous elastic ring, closely but D. GURNEE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

f Washington, D. C. 

